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Good art tutorial

PureX

Veteran Member
I'm not sure I know what defines art - do you? (I knew popularity didn't necessarily of course)

As if that is news to me. So what does define art and who gets to decide?
Function and purpose define it, basically. And the people who make it determine that, for the most part. For example, art is not entertainment, and entertainers are not artists, though a work of art may be entertaining, and many are, and many even employ this entertainment factor in the service of their artistic intent. Art is not philosophy and philosophers are not artists, but many works of art exhibit a philosophical position, or ideal, and artists often use these associations in the service of their unique creative artistic intent. So I understand why art is often confusing to people, and why some people think they are artists when they aren't, or why some people think some works of art are not art, when they are. And especially when artists, themselves, seem to have a tendency to want to explore the definitions and boundaries of their own creative endeavor.
 
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PureX

Veteran Member
It seems @PureX gets to decide to the extent of belittling any art he does not like!
PureX has a master's degree in fine art from one of the best and most prestigious art schools in the country, and has lived and worked as a fine artist in a major city (with many other artists) for many years. So, yes, PureX tends to think he knows a thing or two about art that most of the other people on here don't know. And I am not "belittling" anything or anyone. I am simply pointing out that art is not whatever one thinks it is. Nor whatever one likes. Nor whatever the dictionary claims it is. Art is a specific kind of human endeavor that fulfills a number of specific functions within the cultures and societies that engage in it. There's no need to get all huffy and defensive about it. It is what it is and it's not what it's not.
 

ChristineM

"Be strong", I whispered to my coffee.
Premium Member
I'm pretty sure art is like Beauty. It's all in the eyes of the beholder.

I mean look at Andy Warhol. I still have the opinion that Campbell's Soup cans are not art, but truth be told, art it is with others.

And as far as i could see, all the beholders rated pixel art as art
 

ChristineM

"Be strong", I whispered to my coffee.
Premium Member
PureX has a master's degree in fine art from one of the best and most prestigious art schools in the country, and has lived and worked as a fine artist in a major city (with many other artists) for many years. So, yes, PureX tends to think he knows a thing or two about art that most of the other people on here don't know. And I am not "belittling" anything or anyone. I am simply pointing out that art is not whatever one thinks it is. Nor whatever one likes. Nor whatever the dictionary claims it is. Art is a specific kind of human endeavor that fulfills a number of specific functions within the cultures and societies that engage in it. There's no need to get all huffy and defensive about it. It is what it is and it's not what it's not.

I will quote you from your post #2 of this thread
"This is not an "art tutorial". It's not about art, at all. Manipulating pixels on a screen (or paint on a canvas) is not "art"."

Disagreement with your pomposity is not getting huffy.

BTW, i have 5 art based degrees, 2 of them masters.
 

PureX

Veteran Member
I will quote you from your post #2 of this thread
"This is not an "art tutorial". It's not about art, at all. Manipulating pixels on a screen (or paint on a canvas) is not "art"."

Disagreement with your pomposity is not getting huffy.

BTW, i have 5 art based degrees, 2 of them masters.
Too bad one of them does not appear to be in understanding english.

I am "manipulating pixels on a screen" right now. I think you will agree that I am not, however, making art with them. So the determining factor in what is or is not art must not be the "manipulation of pixels on a screen". It must be something else.

What, exactly, are you disagreeing with, here?
 

ChristineM

"Be strong", I whispered to my coffee.
Premium Member
Too bad one of them does not appear to be in understanding english.

I am "manipulating pixels on a screen" right now. I think you will agree that I am not, however, making art with them. So the determining factor in what is or is not art must not be the "manipulation of pixels on a screen". It must be something else.

What, exactly, are you disagreeing with, here?

We are talking pixel art, not writing bullpoop. As a master in art i would really have thought you would be able to tell the difference between plonking on a keyboard and creating images that can appreciated

If you are pretending not to comprehend there is no point in going on.


FYI. I am dyslexic, not stupid, silly comments about English are pretty pathetic in the context of art.. would you not agree?
 

PureX

Veteran Member
We are talking pixel art, not writing bullpoop.
There is no "pixel art". There is only art. Pixels are just a medium. Artists use all kinds of different mediums. That's why the medium employed does not define something as being art, or not art. Nor does working in a medium define being an artist or not being one. It's WHAT ONE IS DOING with the medium that makes what they've done art, or not art, and them an artist, or not an artist. It's the endeavor, and the result, not the manipulation, or the materials being manipulated. So a tutorial on manipulating some medium or other is not art. And is not teaching anyone how to make art.
 
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ChristineM

"Be strong", I whispered to my coffee.
Premium Member
There is no "pixel art". There is only art. Pixels are just a medium. Artists use all kinds of different mediums. That's why the medium employed does not define something as being art, or not art. Nor does working in a medium define being an artist or not being one. It's WHAT ONE IS DOING with the medium that makes what they've done art, or not art, and them an artist, or not an artist. It's the endeavor, and the result, not the manipulation, or the materials being manipulated. So a tutorial on manipulating some medium or other is not art. And is not teaching anyone how to make art.


I have provided both a wiki and comments from hundreds of artists. You have provided incredulous opinion.

There Is no point, am done.
 

Mock Turtle

Oh my, did I say that!
Premium Member
Function and purpose define it, basically. And the people who make it determine that, for the most part. For example, art is not entertainment, and entertainers are not artists, though a work of art may be entertaining, and many are, and many even employ this entertainment factor in the service of their artistic intent. Art is not philosophy and philosophers are not artists, but many works of art exhibit a philosophical position, or ideal, and artists often use these associations in the service of their unique creative artistic intent. So I understand why art is often confusing to people, and why some people think they are artists when they aren't, or why some people think some works of art are not art, when they are. And especially when artists, themselves, seem to have a tendency to want to explore the definitions and boundaries of their own creative endeavor.

The definition of art seems not so clear-cut to many:

The Definition of Art (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
 

PureX

Veteran Member
The definition of art seems not so clear-cut to many:

The Definition of Art (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
What a surprise: philosophers don't know what art is. :)

One of my favorite classes in art school was a class called "Aesthetics" that came with a giant expensive textbook of the same name. It devoted many pages of text to listing philosophers, chronologically, and their various explanations as to what art is. Some said it was the pursuit of beauty. Some said it was the pursuit of order, balance and symmetry, some said it was a quest for immortality, some said it was a quest for the social ideal, some said it was an attempt to capture perfection, and so on and so on.

And they were all right, and they were all wrong. Because although there were artists that were motivated by these concepts, there were artists that were not. Which indicated to me that if we are looking for a universal definition of what art is, we're going to have to transcend the individual motivations. And that's where the real answer lies. In the act of their gaining, and/or sharing those individual motivations, whatever they are, with and through the rest of us us. In sharing who they are, and why they do what they do, with the rest of us, through what they've done and presented to us.
 
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Mock Turtle

Oh my, did I say that!
Premium Member
What a surprise: philosophers don't know what art is. :)

One of my favorite classes in art school was a class called "Aesthetics" that came with a giant expensive textbook of the same name. It devoted many pages of text to listing philosophers, chronologically, and their various explanations as to what art is. Some said it was the pursuit of beauty. Some said it was the pursuit of order, balance and symmetry, some said it was a quest immortality, some said it was a quest for their ideal of perfection, and so on and so on.

And they were all right, and they were all wrong. Because there were artists that were motivated by these concepts, and there were artists that were not. Which indicated to me that if we are looking for a universal definition of what art is, we're going to have to transcend the individual motivations. And that's where the real answer lies. In the act of their gaining, and/or sharing those motivations, whatever they are, with and through the rest of us us. In sharing who they are, and why they do what they do, with the rest of us, through what they've done, for us.

So we should leave it to artists to define such? Great - in that case I claim my life as being art. Bad art, but still art. :oops:
 

PureX

Veteran Member
So we should leave it to artists to define such? Great - in that case I claim my life as being art. Bad art, but still art. :oops:
Who is defining what medicine is? Who is defining what philosophy is? Who is defining what religion is?

You can choose to be the definer of all things, if you want to. But there are still going to be a lot of people in the world who know those things far better than you do.
 

Mock Turtle

Oh my, did I say that!
Premium Member
Who is defining what medicine is? Who is defining what philosophy is? Who is defining what religion is?

You can choose to be the definer of all things, if you want to. But there are still going to be a lot of people in the world who know those things far better than you do.

I'm sure you will be great at arguing with future computers when they might assert that their creations are as much art as that produced by humans. Unfortunately I won't be around to witness this but I'm sure it will happen - being one of those who does tend to believe that AI will progress rather dramatically in most areas, including art. And I'm sure we will be just as amazed as we were when we first learnt how to display perspective in art.

My futile attempts at painting mostly ended when JFK was assassinated - what I was working on went into the rubbish bin.
 

PureX

Veteran Member
I'm sure you will be great at arguing with future computers when they might assert that their creations are as much art as that produced by humans. Unfortunately I won't be around to witness this but I'm sure it will happen - being one of those who does tend to believe that AI will progress rather dramatically in most areas, including art. And I'm sure we will be just as amazed as we were when we first learnt how to display perspective in art.

My futile attempts at painting mostly ended when JFK was assassinated - what I was working on went into the rubbish bin.
It all ends up in the rubbish bin sooner or later.

As to AI art, I will thankfully not be around to debate it, either. But I seriously doubt that AI will ever really be able to do it. Even "Data" wasn't able to accomplish anything much beyond a sophisticated collage of imitation. There's a degree of that in all art, of course, but there is always something more; something almost indefinable, and uniquely human. There are also those who want to insist that other animals can make art, but that's just nonsense and hucksterism talking.

But ... thanks to a wonderful sculptor named H.C. Westerman, we already know what your AI artist will look like ... :)

dfe98a3bffddaed509bce8519d74c394.jpg
 

Mock Turtle

Oh my, did I say that!
Premium Member
It all ends up in the rubbish bin sooner or later.

As to AI art, I will thankfully not be around to debate it, either. But I seriously doubt that AI will ever really be able to do it. Even "Data" wasn't able to accomplish anything much beyond a sophisticated collage of imitation. There's a degree of that in all art, of course, but there is always something more; something almost indefinable, and uniquely human. There are also those who want to insist that other animals can make art, but that's just nonsense and hucksterism talking.

But ... thanks to a wonderful sculptor named H.C. Westerman, we already know what your AI artist will look like ... :)

dfe98a3bffddaed509bce8519d74c394.jpg


Regarding AI, just look at what has happened with the various game-playing progress made, and where some of the human subjects were a bit astounded by what any AI did to win. I suspect we might see similar progress with art (and music perhaps) - once AI really starts to make substantial progress. Probably not far off.
 

PureX

Veteran Member
Regarding AI, just look at what has happened with the various game-playing progress made, and where some of the human subjects were a bit astounded by what any AI did to win. I suspect we might see similar progress with art (and music perhaps) - once AI really starts to make substantial progress. Probably not far off.
Imitating art well enough to fool someone is not making art, though.
 
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